Omar Ahmad

An internet infrastructure maven and activist, Omar Ahmad was the mayor of San Carlos, California.

Why you should listen

Omar Ahmad was the co-founder and CEO of SynCH Energy Corporation, a renewable energy startup. Prior to founding SynCH Energy, Ahmad founded TrustedID and Logictier and served in key leadership positions for such companies as Grand Central Communications, Napster, Netscape, @Home Network and Discovery Channel Online.

Ahmad was the mayor of the City of San Carlos, after serving for many years on the City Council of this Silicon Valley town. His policy focus centered on budget reform and fiscal sustainability.

What others say

“Omar wanted everybody to contribute to a better polity.” — TED Blog

Omar Ahmad’s TED talk

Omar Ahmad on the TED Blog

The challenges we face in the 21st century are global in nature. Yet it often seems like we are woefully ill-equipped to address issues such as poverty, violence, security or public health with our large-scale political institutions. In this bold talk, Benjamin Barber suggests that we should transition away from nation states towards a system […]

Has the red tape of the political process gotten you down? In the step-by-step handbook Citizen Advocate: Get Government to Move Mountains and Change the World, Omar Ahmad, the former mayor of San Carlos, California, explains what it takes to move a great idea down the often-confusing path from hope to law. Written before Ahmad’s […]